History Main / MoneyIsNotPower

* One of the gut punches delivered by [[UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic the sinking of the Titanic]] was that some of the (at the time) wealthiest men in the world went down with the ship, and apparently all their money and influence wasn't able to save them. In actual fact there doesn't seem to have been many attempts at bribery. John Jacob Astor ''had'' asked if there was room in a lifeboat so that he and his wife Madeleine, who was five months pregnant, could stay together — but he had the incredibly bad luck to be asking Officer Lightoller, who said that "no man is allowed on this boat or any of the boats until the ladies are off"; Officers Murdoch or Wilde might well have been more lenient, especially since (according to Madeleine's later account) there was apparently room in the boat for at least fifteen more people. Still, Astor seemed to have accepted the denial and his fate calmly, merely asking what number the lifeboat was so he could find Madeleine later. Isidor Straus refused the offer to get into a lifeboat while there were still women and children on the ship, and Ida refused to leave him, saying "We have lived together for many years. Where you go, I go." Benjamin Guggenheim and his valet, realising that rescue wasn't going to come near quick enough to save the people still trapped on the ship, changed into evening wear to meet their deaths and remarked "We've dressed up in our best and are prepared to go down like gentlemen."

** In ''Felina'', [[spoiler:Walt does manage to get his family money, but he has to pretend that it came from Gretchen and Elliot, who he manipulates into helping him [[MakesSenseInContext with the help of two crooks and a laser pointer]]. Also Jack tries to buy his way out of trouble, but Walt is too vengeful to really care]].

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': A common fate of wealthy characters, especially in the more horror-infused episodes, is "rich person who ends up dying to the monster / disaster of the week". As a case study, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E6Dalek "Dalek"]] features Henry van Statten, a ludicrously rich man who owns the internet and is shown to be able to do things like have underperforming employees memory-wiped and ditched on the side of the road or single-handedly decide the next Presidential election. He's genuinely stunned when the Doctor tells him that the Dalek that's just escaped from his collection and started murdering all his security guards [[AlwaysChaoticEvil cannot be bribed or negotiated with, and will kill everyone in its path out of simple hatred]]. Nor does his wealth do him much good when his surviving employees, infuriated at how many people died because of his nonsense, turn on him and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard wipe HIS memory and ditch him by the side of the road]].

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E6Dalek "Dalek"]] features Henry van Statten, a ludicrously rich man who owns the internet and is shown to be able to do things like have underperforming employees memory-wiped and ditched on the side of the road or single-handedly decide the next Presidential election. He's genuinely stunned when the Doctor tells him that the Dalek that's just escaped from his collection and started murdering all his security guards [[AlwaysChaoticEvil cannot be bribed or negotiated with, and will kill everyone in its path out of simple hatred]]. Nor does his wealth do him much good when his surviving employees, infuriated at how many people died because of his nonsense, turn on him and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard wipe HIS memory and ditch him by the side of the road]].

'''Goddard:'' And by tonight, Henry van Statten will be a homeless, brainless junkie [[IronicEcho living on the streets of San Diego, Seattle, Sacramento... Someplace beginning with "S".]]

--->'''The Joker:''' It's not about the money. It's about sending a ''message.'' ''Everything burns''.

* ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'': In ''The Rebels''#12, Cauldron City on the innermost planet is facing certain doom. There's just one ship available, a military ship without much extra capacity. When the rich and wealthy administrators ask Commander Junnard if he'll transport some of them and a few specialists off-planet, Junnard snaps back that only children, chosen by Skyward-monitored random lot, will be allowed on. When the rich folks try to pull "we have connections", Junnard tells them to try that argument with the soldiers he has guarding his shuttles -the rich snobs won't ''like'' the orders Junnard's issued.

* Early in ''{{Series/LOST}}'', Sawyer is quick to point out that money is completely worthless on the Island, which makes the formerly wealthy Shannon powerless. This is why he's able to quickly assert himself as an economic leader, by salvaging anything that might be of value from the wreckage.

* ''Series/HouseOfCardsUS'': Frank Underwood states that he went into the public sector because he values power over money. He prefers to surround himself with people who also seek power over money, as their loyalty can't be bought. He comments on this when he analyses where he thinks his nominal ally and former Press Secretary, the lobbyist Remy Danton, has gone wrong.
-->'''Frank:''' Money is the [=McMansion=] in Sarasota that starts falling apart after 10 years. Power is the old stone building that stands for centuries. I cannot respect someone who doesn't see the difference.
** Remy later on provides a counter-argument: power is better than money but only as long as it ''lasts''. [[HowTheMightyHaveFallen Which it never does]].
** Raymond Tusk, a billionaire AffluentAscetic who is more interested in the power that his money affords him rather than the luxury, often uses his net worth to browbeat politicians to let him have his way. He is ultimately outmanuevered.
** Xander Feng, another billionaire, also threatens Frank with his wealth, but Frank coolly retorts that all of Feng's fortune amounts to little more than the GDP of Slovakia, while Frank himself wields the United States government.

** [[spoiler: In ''Ozymandias'', Walt tries to bribe Jack into sparing Hank from summary execution. Jack, knowing Hank won't keep his mouth shut, kills Hank anyways. As a final twist of the knife, Jack and his crew take Walt's barrels of money, only letting Walt keep one barrel out of a twisted sense of honor]].
** [[spoiler: In ''Granite State'', Walt being a fugitive from the law means he can't deposit or hide his money, nor send it to Skyler, without attracting the attention of the feds who will just take it from him. While Ed is honest enough to help Walt escape, he isn't honest enough that he won't try and keep Walt's money for himself. Walt Jr. is so disgusted with his father, he won't accept a dime from him. Walt is so isolated and lonely, he straight-up burns some of his money at one point]].
** [[spoiler: In ''Felina'', Walt does manage to get his family money, but he has to pretend that it came from Gretchen and Elliot, who he manipulates into helping him [[MakesSenseInContext with the help of two crooks and a laser pointer]]. Also Jack tries to buy his way out of trouble, but Walt is too vengeful to really care]].

** When hiring the sellsword Bronn, Tyrion Lannister boasts that he can beat any price Bronn is offered to betray him. Unfortunately his sister Queen Cersei is able to bribe Bronn with a noble title and he already planned on making the castle of his future wife his. While gold is good for him, being able to drink his own wine in his own keep is a dream he can't afford with standard sellsword pay and he really wants his promised castle, and to become part of the High Class of society, with a marriage, children, and a legacy of his own. In the end, [[spoiler:Tyrion does manage to make good on his promise to double whatever anyone else offers Bronn by promising Bronn he can have Highgarden, a far better prize than the one Cersei is offering him. Essentially, Tyrion bribes Bronn with power rather than mere coin.]]
* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'':
** In the second half of Season 3, Hive, an ancient Inhuman who [[spoiler:HYDRA was originally founded to worship, and who was banished from Earth centuries ago]], asks Gideon Malick why he is helping Hive. Malick says that his family was promised that Hive would help them take over the world. Hive muses that Malick ''already'' owns an appreciable portion of the world; between his money and his connections, he can have very nearly anything he wants at any time. Hive says that what Malick actually wants is '''power''', personal superhuman power like what the Inhumans have. Hive, being AffablyEvil, helps him find this power.
** A few episodes later, [[spoiler:after Malick's death]], Hive is informed that there is a lot of money up for grabs. Hive is dismissive, and says that they have neither the time nor the inclination to sort through a bunch of diversified investments. Giyera says that while Hive is right, they can't get all of it within a reasonable timeframe, but they can get nine hundred and sixty ''million'' dollars immediately. That manages to give even Hive pause, and Hive admits that will [[PragmaticVillainy be useful]].

* In ''VideoGame/MaxPayne3'', when Max reaches the innermost part of the dilapidated Imperial Palace Hotel, he finds [[spoiler: Dr. Fisher [[OrganTheft harvesting the organs]] of GangBangers and regular people rounded up by an [[PoliceBrutality aggressive SWAT team]] that sold them to a crooked paramilitary organization, which hired Fisher for the sole purpose of performing the extractions.]] When Max confronts him, he insists he did it [[spoiler: to save the lives of people in need of organ transplants]], but when Max doesn't buy that explanation, [[spoiler: Fisher]] gives an armful of money to Max so he can look the other way. Max lets the money drop to the floor, and when [[spoiler: Serrano, who had been antagonizing Max up until that point]], comes into the room, Max steps back and [[spoiler: allows [[DoWithHimAsYouWill Serrano to stab Fisher with a scalpel.]]]]
* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' during the GoldenEnding: One of the [[BigBadEnsemble main villains]] [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Devin Weston]] cheats the heroes out of their payment and tries to put a hit on one of them, thinking he can get away because he is so rich and powerful (though to be fair, he does own his own small army of Merryweather guards). [[spoiler:[[AxCrazy Trevor]] goes after him in his luxurious and heavily guarded mansion, kills all his guards, and imprisons Weston inside his own car's trunk. Weston tries to bargain with Trevor by offering money and employment in exchange for sparing him and gets increasingly desperate as he realizes that Trevor doesn't really care about money since not only is he already rich from all the heists and crimes he's done by that point, he really hates Weston and no fortune in the world can save him from his inevitable death]].

* ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'': This trope coming into play motivates Thief into wanting to save the world, since if the world ends, "money won't be worth the act of picking it up".
* ''Webcomic/UnicornJelly'': The Arks of the dying world would probably be tailored for the rich and powerful... IF there were enough damn space for a bunch of useless snobs. As the Arks are barely functioning on unknown precursor technology that has not been improved for over 500 cycles, there simply isn't enough weight support for more than a skeleton crew of the fittest soldiers and the thinnest assassins, a handful of ''the thinnest and not smartest'' scientists, and a few dozen children for colonization because their weight is by far the lightest. In fact, the heroes only get to board because ''one of them accidentally slaughtered a dozen kids''. No amount of money, or even political power, will make up for the ability to float the ark off a planet that's up next for asteroid target practice.
--> Did you think you'd see the rich and powerful, triumphing up the galleyways in hopes of buying their future? These arks are already over the limit from the bare minimum of crew members, and every human onboard has to serve a purpose or they're dead weight!

* In one episode of ''{{WesternAnimation/Arthur}}'', Elwood City is struck by a massive blizzard. Mr. Crosswire manages to beat Mr. Read to the last of the food at the supermarket, but that's where his influence ends. Upon returning home, Muffy complains that none of her electrical devices are working and begs him to fix it by paying someone. He replies "This is something money can't fix."
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' has a case of this in the episode "The Terrible Trio" where Warren, the group's leader, truly thinks that he can get away with murder because [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney he has money]]. When he finds he can't bribe Batman, he still thinks that his family's lawyers will get him off. This is followed by a GilliganCut to him being thrown in prison.

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': When Bill Cipher invades our dimension and takes over Gravity Falls, Preston Northwest tries to use [[EntitledBastard his wealth]] to join Bill's forces as some sort of Horseman of the Apocalypse. Having no use for money, Bill simply deforms Preston's face.

* ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeResolute'': During his ultimatum to the UN, Cobra Commander admits to learning this lesson the hard way, expressing the belief that his constant defeats at the hands of G.I. Joe were the result of him thinking money brought power. He [[TookALevelInBadass now understands]] that it's the other way around; with control over others comes wealth, meaning that by [[TakeOverTheWorld forcing the nations of the world to cede power to him]], he will have all the money he could ever want. [[note]] It should be pointed out that many versions of Cobra Commander are still firm believers in the power of money, and Cobra's lower ranks are very highly motivated because they have many options to gain wealth (e.g. getting a percentage cut of weapons sales, commissions on successful recruitment). [[/note]]

-->'''Dimo:''' Of course! [[DramaticallyMissingThePoint It's your job to sacrifice yourselves to protect the people's lives and fortunes]]! You parasites think you're so special just because you're finally being useful for the first time in a century!
-->'''Mikasa:''' ''(DeathGlare and SlowWalk commence)'' If you expect someone to die for the sake of another as a matter of course, I'm sure you'll understand this. That sometimes, [[ImpliedDeathThreat a single noble sacrifice can save many lives]].
-->'''Dimo:''' Try it! [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections I've known your boss for a long time]]... I can decide your fate with a single word!
-->'''Mikasa:''' ''(casually knocks out all of his bodyguards)'' How is a corpse going to talk?

* ''ComicBook/VForVendetta:'' This is the final fate of RichBitch Helen: losing all of her money and power. Her husband (who was in charge of the Norsefire party's SinisterSurveillance) is dead, having just killed her lover (an up-and-coming street rat, who she was grooming to become the chief of Norsefire's goons). The total collapse of the Norsefire party leaves her on the streets. She desperately flings herself onto the first guy she recognizes as a former party member, trying to seduce him by claiming that with her, they'll seize power. He no longer cares about any of it and leaves her screeching.
* ''ComicBook/{{Maus}}'' features one of the rare occasions where the person on the receiving end of this trope is sympathetic. Vladek's father-in-law, a Jewish millionaire in Nazi-occupied Poland, tries to bribe himself and his wife out of the Holocaust. Unfortunately, smuggling two middle-aged Jews to safety in 1940 is simply too much risk for anyone, no matter how great the reward. In one of the saddest scenes of the story, Vladek tries to bribe one of his relatives, a Jewish ghetto policeman, into sparing his father-in-law from deportation. Unfortunately, the relative takes the bribe and just ships the old man to his doom.
-->'''Vladek''': He was a millionaire, but even this didn't save him his life.

* In the first ''ComicBook/{{Blacksad}}'' comic, the BigBad is rich enough to kill with impunity, muzzle the chief of police, and send his goons to beat up a detective. Problem is the chief of police, while forced to back down, doesn't like rich assholes using their influence to escape their crimes, and gives carte blanche to the detective, Blacksad, to find the rich murderer and kill him. When Blacksad confronts the murderer, he rejects any bribe on principle and kills him while the chief of police [[TheCoronerDothProtestTooMuch writes it as a suicide]]. Blacksad even notes that if the BigBad wasn't so smug, he wouldn't have been able to pull the trigger.

* ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand'' plays with this; in the sealed-off Gotham, all barter is for basic survival necessities, so anyone who flashes around [[WorthlessYellowRocks paper money or jewels]] and expects results is treated as an idiot by most people. However, while ''money'' may not be power, the ''trade'' that it used to represent is more important than ever, and those who master the new currencies (tinned food, batteries, servitude, etc.) become very powerful. ComicBook/ThePenguin becomes the most powerful man in Gotham this way, and is famous for being the only major trader who will accept traditional valuables as payment, but only because he has a pipeline to the outside world and enough resources to survive until the No Man's Land is lifted and the economy returns to normal.

* Discussed at the end of ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}'', when the BigBad has all his crimes exposed to the public. It's noted afterwards that he's using his considerable wealth to avoid legal prosecution... but he's only got so much money, and with the absolutely massive number of people that now want him dead, it's really [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty only a matter of time]] before he either bankrupts himself through constant bribes or has the bad luck of encountering somebody who cares more about their hate for him than cash. Even if he somehow manages to ''completely'' avoid prosecution, assassination, or bankruptcy, [[spoiler:he can never be the President again]], the only thing in his life he gave anything ''resembling'' a damn about.

* ''FanFic/WhiteRain'': Marnix finds this out the hard way when Sasuke cuts his arm off and burns him to a cinder with Amaterasu.
* In the ''Anime/YuGiOh'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4096894/1/YuGiOh-Soul-of-Silicon Yu-Gi-Oh! Soul of Silicon]]'', corrupt businessman turned warlord Gansley learned this but was able to adjust thanks to [[BigBad Daala]].
-->'''Gansley''': Ironic, isn't it, that in Xanadu there is no currency. Money doesn't exist where Duel Spirits reign. They have no need for it. In dimensions like this, power is the only thing that counts. I wouldn't have lasted a day in my old human form. Duel Spirits wouldn't have cared about my stocks or financial clout. They would have seen nothing but the crippled old man I was without them. But now, thanks to Daala, the power I once had that only existed on paper in my stock portfolio has been replaced by ''true'' power! The power to crush anyone who opposes me!
* ''Fanfic/AManOfIron'': Someone hires a gang of bandits to kill Tony Stark. They later remark that they don't really care about money because they can just take whatever they want from their victims, and do it more because they get off on hurting people. When they kidnap Tony, he attempts to negotiate, but they mock him and say his wealth and titles are meaningless; from now on, he's just their toy that they will torture for fun and eventually kill. It takes a BigDamnHeroes from Jon, Rhodey, and the others to save him.
* ''FanFic/NeverHadAFriendLikeMe'': [[OriginalCharacter Amanda]] is forced by [[AbusiveParents her parents]] into a playdate with [[{{Jerkass}} Remy]] [[SpoiledBrat Buxaplenty]]. Remy learns about Norm and tries to pay Amanda for his lamp. Even if [[spoiler: Norm hadn't already been freed from his lamp]], Amanda is still annoyed by Remy's offer. Later, when Remy poofs up a genie, and [[JackassGenie he proceeds to twist his wishes for fun]], Remy tries to bribe the genie into granting his wishes exactly, but he is laughed at since genies can wish up their own cash.
* ''Fanfic/RWBYZero'': Weiss Schnee, her father Jacques, and her brother Whitley get kidnapped by [[BigBad Salem]]. Jacques thinks this is about ransom and asks Salem how much she wants. Salem says this is not about him, this is about Weiss. Confused, Jacques says Weiss has been disowned and has no access to the family fortune. Salem mocks him for thinking this is about something as insignificant as money. What she wants are Weiss' powers [[WeCanRuleTogether on her side]]. With Jacques and Whitley imprisoned, it will reduce the chances of Weiss running away, as even though she hates them, she still cares about them on some level.
* Tywin thinks that he can buy out his problems but there's things that his money can't buy in ''FanFic/BequeathedFromPaleEstates'':

* ''FanFic/ChildrenOfRemnant'': PlayedForDrama. Jacques Schnee was forced to trade his daughter Weiss to Salem in order to ensure peace. The SDC executive laments that he [[CorruptCorporateExecutive spent his life accruing wealth]], and it couldn't protect his youngest daughter from Salem's caprices. On the positive, [[AdaptationalNiceGuy this helped him become a much better human being]] [[TookALevelInKindness to his remaining family]].
* ''Fanfic/FateKill'': Shirou confronts Bach, who commits the atrocity of selling girls into slavery to people who enjoy torturing and killing girls. Bach tries to offer money to be left alone and is shocked when Shirou points out his crimes cannot be paid for with mere money.

* In ''Film/DontLookUp'', most, if not all, of the survivors on the SleeperShip are [[spoiler:President Orlean's wealthy allies, titans of finance and industry.]] People who have relied on money and personal connections throughout their entire lives have no practical skills for survival or scientific knowledge. As such, they can only stand helpless and (literally) naked [[spoiler:as a pack of alien predators close in on them seconds after they disembark. And even if they could fight the predators off, they are all clearly past fertile age, meaning their society would last only a couple of decades at most. Given it was their greed and arrogance that doomed human civilization back on Earth, it might count as LaserGuidedKarma. Also Jason Orlean is shown to have somehow miraculously survived the impact, but he's a rich dimwit and he looks utterly lost as he takes in the devastation around him, so he'll probably die of thirst or starvation soon anyway.]]

--->'''Bane:''' ''[to Stryver]'' Leave us.\\
'''Daggett:''' No, you stay here. I'm in charge! ''[Bane puts a heavy hand on Daggett's shoulder]''\\
'''Bane:''' Do you ''feel'' in charge? ''[Stryver leaves]''\\
'''Daggett:''' ''[[[OhCrap slowly realizing just how utterly screwed he is]]]'' ...I paid you a small fortune!\\
'''Bane:''' ''[disapprovingly]'' And this gives you ''power'' over me?\\
'''Daggett:''' ''[almost whimpering]'' ...What is this?\\
'''Bane:''' Your money and infrastructure have been important... ''[grabs Daggett's neck] [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness 'til now]].''
* ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'': Cal tries to bribe his way off the [[ItWasHisSled doomed ship]]. While it appears to work initially, the money is thrown back in his face when it matters most.
-->'''First Officer William Murdoch:''' Your money can't save you any more than it could save me!
* ''Film/TheWarOfTheWorlds1953'': As Los Angeles is being evacuated, people are rioting in the streets while trying to obtain transportation out of the city.
-->'''Man:''' Let me up. I'll give you $500 for your place. I'll make it $1,000.\\
'''Man in truck:''' Money's no good anymore!
* Played with, somewhat, in ''Film/TwoThousandTwelve''. While some of the surviving humans were selected by geneticists, a good portion of the rest were rich snobs whose tickets ran at a billion euros apiece. It was the money from these ticket sales that paid for the ships in the first place. The trope comes into play when the storylines converge in China, where one of the ark ships has been severely damaged and its assembled passengers are nearly left to die (one of them yells "I paid a fortune to be here!"). It's also not pointed out that, in the post-disaster world, their money and power will be gone, as the economy that supported their fortunes no longer exists, meaning they'll have to work just like everyone else.
* In ''Film/QuickChange'', one of the bank hostages tries to bribe the robber (Bill Murray in a clown costume) by offering his very expensive watch. Being Bill Murray, the mocking reply is priceless.
** Also played with (and an IronicEcho of sorts) on the situation that is the film's visual TitleDrop: Grimm tries to buy a ride on the bus for him and his companions, but he has no exact change for the fare and the bus driver [[PrinciplesZealot is such a hard-core stickler to the rules]] that he will not take a payment with a high-denomination bill (even when Grimm insists that he can keep the rest) and continues to demand ''exact change'', forcing Grimm to run to a nearby store and get it (evading the police as he does so) before the bus takes off.
* In ''Film/TheUntouchables1987'', this trope is the entire reason for the film's title. Eliot Ness and his group ''cannot'' be bribed, which is UsefulNotes/AlCapone's usual way of keeping the cops away from him.

* In ''Film/Predator2'', Jamaican gangsters kidnap the leader of their rival Columbian gang, hang him from the ceiling naked by his ankles, and prepare to execute him. He desperately offers his fortune to them, but they reply, "This is not about money, this is about power. There's a new king in the streets. This is a message he has for your people: 'you are history!' Fucking history. Goddamn puto." Shortly afterwards, they are all killed by the Predator, which (although it's never brought up) is ''another'' thing that can't be bought off, reasoned with, or satisfied by anything other than your skinned skull on a spike.
* ''Film/IAmLegend'': Dr. Neville finds himself walking over a fortune in bank notes, abandoned on the floor. Considering that humanity got wiped out by a plague and he is the last survivor left in the city besides the vampires, money is pretty much useless as the paper it was printed on.

* An interesting example from ''Film/TheRecklessMoment'' for women during TheForties and TheFifties: Although Lucia isn’t a jerk, she is part of a wealthy upper-class family. However, she can’t use this wealth to get blackmail money because of her position as a powerless {{Housewife}}. She needs her husband's signature (read: permission) for everything at her bank, she doesn’t have collateral (therefore, she doesn’t own anything) to get a loan from a loaning institution, and her valuables aren’t worth much.
* ''Film/{{Us}}'': After the Tethered break into his home and round up him and his family to kill them, Gabe Wilson tries to offer his money, car, and boat to leave them alone. The Tethered don't care about these things.
* ''Film/Shazam2019'': After acquiring superpowers and the allegiance of demons representing the SevenDeadlySins, Dr. Thaddeus Sivana confronts his abusive father, a CEO, at a board meeting and slaughters everyone else in the room. His father begs for his life and offers money and his CEO position. Thaddeus lectures him on his cowardice and says his material wealth is not power like his, then has Greed kill him.
-->'''Dr. Sivana:''' Do you think all this material you've accumulated amounts to actual power?
* The scene mentioned in Anime and Manga also happens in the live adaptation of ''Film/RurouniKenshin'', made more chilling by the fact that the person confronting Kanryu isn't Himura Kenshin the Rurouni, but Himura Battousai the Hitokiri, only just keeping his homicidal impulses in check.
-->'''Hitokiri Battousai:''' Do you know what money ''can't'' buy, Kanryu? It's what you're begging for right now. Your life.

* ''Film/UncutGems'': Howard Ratner owes a LoanShark named Arno money. Near the end, when Arno and his thugs enter his store to collect, Howard locks them in a room and reveals he bet all his money on a basketball game, so if they would be patient, he'll give what he owes them. Several hours later, the team he bet on wins. He excitedly lets them out while explaining he won his bet and got the money, but Arno's thug Phil is so completely pissed off about being locked in the room for so long that he doesn't care and shoots him in the face, then kills Arno when he protests.
* ''Film/{{Gandhi}}'': After being thrown off a train in South Africa, Gandhi meets his client, an Indian Muslim businessman named Mr. Khan. He explains to Gandhi that his background as an Indian outweighs his status as a wealthy man, and because of this, he does not expect to travel by first class or walk down the street with his white Christian attorney.
* ''Film/RoboCop1987'': Two thugs chase down a woman. She tries to offer her purse, but they knock it away and say they don't care about money, they just want to rape her. [=RoboCop=] steps in and saves her.

* ''Literature/MurderOnTheOrientExpress'': Ratchett made a good amount of money on his [[WouldHurtAChild evil deeds]]...but when those deeds come back to haunt him, he finds out his cash can't save him from deserved revenge. He does try and offer Poirot cash, but the detective smells the man is no good.
* ''Literature/MakingMoney'' plays with this trope: Moist Von Lipwig, BoxedCrook, works for the government as the leader of the National Bank, treating it as a complex con game, which, in a very real sense, it is. He faces the resistance of the Lavish family, who are the RoyallyScrewedUp shareholders of the bank. And while their money definitely grants them power, this power is mere ''leverage'', and not just Moist, but also their ''true'' opponent, the BigGood[[note]]sort of[[/note]] Vetinari, know and understand this much better than they do.
* This is Koreiko's plight in ''Literature/TheLittleGoldenCalf'' and the reason why he patiently awaits the end of the Soviet rule. Ostap Bender also learns to appreciate this trope when he finally makes it big.

* ''OGPU Prison'' by Creator/SvenHassel. Wounded German soldiers are [[ColdEquation divided into two categories]]; those likely to survive who'll be evacuated, and those who are too injured to bother with who'll be [[AFateWorseThanDeath left for the advancing Soviet Army]]. A supplies officer in the latter category tries to buy an evacuation ticket off the former with diamonds he's got on hand and a BigFancyHouse he owns in Berlin. They all think he's mad and laugh at him, causing the officer to break down crying, as "he suddenly realized how poor he was."
* ''Creator/JohnRingo'' did this several times in ''Literature/BlackTideRising'', where people who were rich and powerful before the ''ZombieApocalypse, continue to think that they can simply (as one character puts it) "whip out the [=AmEx=] Black" and continue to get whatever they want. The most egregious case was a Hollywood producer who couldn't quite believe that he couldn't order everybody around and demand anything that he wanted. Interestingly, a few other characters cater to this belief and treat them as if they were still rich and powerful. The main characters quickly disabuse them of this belief.
* In Volume 3/Episode 4 of ''Literature/RollOverAndDie'', Satils, the previous slave owner of Milkit, has Milkit kidnapped because she cannot stand to see one of her former slaves having a happy life. She tortures Milkit until Flum manages to find them. When Satils mentioning her church connections do not dissuade Flum, she attempts to bribe Flum. Flum makes it clear that no amount of money is worth all the torment she inflicted upon Milkit, and she proceeds to torture Satils to death.
* In ''Literature/AlasBabylon'', the town banker measures a person's worth by their net worth. When WorldWarIII renders money, stocks, bonds, etc., useless, he's DrivenToSuicide, unable to cope with the idea.

* In the [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Remake remake of]] ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis'', Nicholai Ginovaef is willing to let the world burn if it gives him a nice bonus, causing him to exacerbate casualties in order to get more combat data. By the end, [[spoiler:after getting injured and being held at gunpoint by Jill, he begs her to help him escape in exchange for his information on his backers (who isn't Umbrella this time). Jill, however, fed up with his mercenary nature and backstabbing, tells him she can do her own detective work, and leaves him to an uncertain fate ahead of an impending missile strike that obliterates Raccoon City.]]

* In the [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Remake remake of]] ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3'', Nicholai Ginovaef is willing to let the world burn if it gives him a nice bonus, causing him to exacerbate casualties in order to get more combat data. By the end, [[spoiler:after getting injured and being held at gunpoint by Jill, he begs her to help him escape in exchange for his information on his backers (who isn't Umbrella this time). Jill, however, fed up with his mercenary nature and backstabbing, tells him she can do her own detective work, and leaves him to an uncertain fate ahead of an impending missile strike that obliterates Raccoon City.]]

** In ''Film/BatmanBegins'', Falcone says he runs the city with "power you can't buy... the power of fear" and demonstrates how he sees Bruce as some snot-nosed kid who can't handle the ugly side of life (Although this power doesn't save him when scarier people start to show up...)

[[folder:Film]]

* In ''Film/{{Predator 2}}'', Jamaican gangsters kidnap the leader of their rival Columbian gang, hang him from the ceiling naked by his ankles, and prepare to execute him. He desperately offers his fortune to them, but they reply, "This is not about money, this is about power. There's a new king in the streets. This is a message he has for your people: 'you are history!' Fucking history. Goddamn puto." Shortly afterwards, they are all killed by the Predator, which (although it's never brought up) is ''another'' thing that can't be bought off, reasoned with, or satisfied by anything other than your skinned skull on a spike.

* ''Film/RoboCop1987'': Two thugs chase down a woman. She tries to offer her purse, but they knock it away and say they don't care about money, they just want to rape her. [=RoboCop=] steps in and saves her.

-->''No money, man, could win my love;''
-->''It's sweetness that I'm thinking of.''

* The story of King Midas is about a man who wishes everything [[MidasTouch he touches turns to gold]]...only to realize the hard way that he can't eat gold, nor can he hug the golden statue that was once his daughter.

* Inverted in ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'', where Dr. Facilier notes that while he has magic, money is what gets you real power. Logically enough, he spends the movie trying to use black magic to steal a fortune. This is most likely due to his [[NoSelfBuffs inability to conjure things for himself]].

Compare ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules, ScrewTheMoneyThisIsPersonal and WorthlessYellowRocks. Contrast EveryManHasHisPrice (you can get people to do anything if you spend ''enough'' money), BribeBackfire (when money ''does'' have power, but the attempt to use it has greater negative consequences than not having done so), and the even bigger contrast CrimefightingWithCash where a character's money supply is so great it counts as a superpower in the war against crime.

* ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeResolute'': During his ultimatum to the UN, Cobra Commander admits to learning this lesson the hard way, expressing the belief that his constant defeats at the hands of G.I. Joe were the result of him thinking money brought power. He [[TookALevelInBadass now understands]] that it's the other way around; with control over others comes wealth, meaning that by [[TakeOverTheWorld forcing the nations of the world to cede power to him]], he will have all the money he could ever want.

There's always that one rich {{Jerkass}} -- the corporate snob, that one with the Lexus, that arrogant prick who's always looking down their nose at everybody else. "I can have anything I want, because [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney ha ha, I'm rich]]." Or maybe he [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections has quite the friendship with the mayor/governor/President]] (often because of the occasional donation), but then shit hits the fan. Maybe it's a natural disaster (or a ''super''natural disaster), an unstoppable disease, the UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic sinking, or even TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. Or maybe it's merely a [[CommieLand Communist]] revolution or some weird kind of hyperinflation. Suddenly, all that wealth and "friendship" isn't worth so much, because people are more worried about plain ol' survival rather than making money or following whoever is supposedly in charge. However, it could be on a much smaller scale -- maybe [[KidsPreferBoxes Kids Just Prefer Boxes]] or money simply isn't important to somebody, either because [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules they value their honor more]] or because [[AxCrazy their desire to see you suffer and die]] is greater than any amount you could offer. Remember to BewareTheHonestOnes, because they believe in things bigger than cold, hard cash.

Compare ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules and WorthlessYellowRocks. Contrast EveryManHasHisPrice (you can get people to do anything if you spend ''enough'' money), BribeBackfire (when money ''does'' have power, but the attempt to use it has greater negative consequences than not having done so), and the even bigger contrast CrimefightingWithCash where a character's money supply is so great it counts as a superpower in the war against crime.